Shloka 67
Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
पिंगलः कपिलश्मश्रुर्भालनेत्रस्त्रयीतनुः । ज्ञानस्कंदो महानीतिर्विश्वोत्पत्तिरुपप्लवः
piṃgalaḥ kapilaśmaśrurbhālanetrastrayītanuḥ | jñānaskaṃdo mahānītirviśvotpattirupaplavaḥ
He is Piṅgala, the tawny-hued One; tawny-bearded; the Bearer of the eye upon the brow; whose very body is the Triple Veda. He is the pillar of sacred knowledge, the Supreme Guide of dharmic order, the source from which the universe arises, and the One who dissolves all upheaval and peril.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Sthala Purana: These epithets function as a sahasranāma-style theological identification of Śiva as Veda-svarūpa and jagad-yonī, rather than a localized liṅga-māhātmya episode.
Significance: Darśana/śravaṇa of such nāma-stuti is framed as pāpa-kṣaya and jñāna-prāpti, preparing the paśu for Śiva’s anugraha.
Type: stotra
FAQs
This verse praises Shiva as both Saguna (with attributes like the third eye and tawny form) and as the inner ground of Dharma and Jñāna—He is the very source of the universe and the power that removes spiritual and worldly upheaval, guiding the soul (paśu) toward liberation under the Lord (Pati).
The epithets point to Shiva’s worship as the manifest Lord: the third eye signifies His transforming grace and dissolution of ignorance, while “trayī-tanu” affirms that Linga-worship is not outside the Vedas but culminates their meaning—Shiva as the ultimate reality indicated by sacred revelation.
Meditate on Shiva at the ājñā center as Bhālanetra (third-eyed Lord), reciting the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and pray for the removal of upaplava (inner disturbances). On Mahāśivarātri, accompany this with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and steady japa as a discipline of purification.